Quartz-mill.



No. 675,872. Patented lune 4, I90l. A. FORD. QUARTZ MILL.

(Application filed Oct. 26, 1899.)

(No'ModeL) 2 $hoeta-Shaet l.

: [F i I I Patented June 4, 1901.

A. FORD.

QUARTZ MILL.

(Appiication filed Oct. 26, 1899) 2 Sheets-$heet 2.

(No Model.)

c7444 e m w UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARCHIBALD FORD, OF GOLDENGATE, CALIFORNIA.

' QUARTZ-MILL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 675,872, dated June 4,1901. Application filed October 26, 1899. Serial No. 734,850. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARCHIBALD FORD, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of Goldengate, in the county of Alameda andState of California, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements inQuartz- Mills, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for breaking, crushing, and grindingores.

One object of the invention is to provide a machine of this class whichis of simple and easy construction and will do its work quickly andthoroughly whatever may be the nature of the ore operated on.

A further object is to have a mill that can advantageously be made ofany size, from the smallest to the largest, so the same will beavailable for prospecting and assaying, as well as for working afully-developed mine.

Rcferefi'ce is had to the drawings hereto annexed fora detaileddescription of the invention.

In the said drawings, Figure l is a sectional end view of a smallportable hand-mill embodying my improvements which is particularlyadapted for prospectors and assayers use and is designed to work on orepreviously broken up or existing in small pieces. Fig. 2 is'apartly-broken front elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic viewshowing the crushing parts of the mill used for breaking the largerpieces of ore preparatory to grinding. Fig. 4 is a miniaturerepresentation of as the one represented in Figs. 1 and 2, but made inpractice of much larger dimensions and run by power instead of by hand.Fig. 5 is a broken front view, also on a small scale, of the upper partof a power-driven mill such as is shown in end elevation in thepreceding figure. is a detailed view of part of the power connections inthe latter-named mill. Fig. 7 is a detail showing the construction ofthe screening lates.

Like re erence-signs indicate like parts throughout the specificationand drawings.

The letter A represents an iron box which may be boiled to an 1 suitablebase or foundation, as s own in Figs. 1, 2, and 4. In the bottom :1 adsbox are placed two chilled-iron shoes c if; shaped so as to receivebetween 1 larly in the large-sized mills.

them a compound rocker C and under it a set of plates Ddirectly over abottom discharge E. These few parts are the principal parts of myimproved mill.

A is one form of hopper which may be used to let down the ore to beground into the box A. This hopper is furnished, when desired, with anautomatic feed apparatus, particu- As shown in Fig. 1, the shoes B Baforesaid are inclined downwardly from the sides to the middle of thebox A and have a wavy surface, on which the ore fed from the hopper A isgradually runs down on them under the rocker 0. They are furthermoreprovided each with three or four half-round or semicylindricalcorrugations 13 B The rocker C is substantially pear-shaped incross-section point down on the plates Dand the lower edge of either ofthe shoes B B It is made to fit and engage the hollows and swells of theshoes upper faces when inclined oneither side, and

crushed and pulverized as it and set with its it 1s also provided withlaterally and downwardly projecting teeth 0 O opposite the corrugationsB B in said shoes. The peculiar shapes thus given to the shoes androcker are believed to be the best that can be devised to render the inggraduallycecreaslng spaces for-the ore to be ground in, suitableinclines for the mineralmatter toslide down cn, recesses that preventthe comminuted mineral water from flying up, blit rather keep it workingor fo cing its 8 way downward, and a contiguous grinding on manifold orcompound surfaces until the ore is all reduced to pulp and leaves themill. I

By preference the lower or grinding part of the rocker G is made pointabove the teeth 0 C The upper part; in which is socketed the hand-leveror rockerrod 0 is made of soft iron.

The shoes B B are pushed inward toward the rocker G and as they wearout, by means of set-screws passing through the sides of the box A.

G indicates loose plates, one of which isprovided at each end of therocker O, to prevent the ore from reaching the ends of and gettingpacked there. These plates afe adjustable and rest edgewise on thebottom mill effective, the same aifordof chilled iron up to a 9g adju dwith relation to it,

the box A we of the box. They are suitably cut in their middle lowerportion to allow the plates D to pass through.

The main discharge for the ground ore and water with which it is usuallyworked is the bottom discharge E, hereinbefore referred to. The groundore, however, is not let directly into the opening E. It has first topass between the plates D, which are set on edge and supported above thesaid opening between the lower inner sides of the shoes B B Three orfour plates D are provided, not less than two being used inany case.These plates are rough-surfaced and set quite close togetherthat is,about one one-hundredth of an inch apart one from another-or so as toleave interstices that will have the same effect on the ground ore asissecured from a forty to a sixty mesh screen. They act like a screen onthe pulp, their rough surfaces or indentations and close setting havingthe same action on it as a fine screen. In practice these plates arecenter-punched on one of their vertically-disposed faces, therebyforming projections on the opposite sides which keep them justsufficiently apart to exclude the passage of any but very finelypulverized matter. The projections on any plate are made so as to bemore or less alternate with the corresponding depressions on itscontiguous plate in order to keep the plates asunder to the extent ofthe projections only. Rough surfaces would have the same effect. Hencemy use of rough-surfaced and indented, as above. From the bottom openingE the pulp falls into an under chute H, Fig. 4, down which it runs intoanother chute, J, suitably supported on the side of the foundation thatthe mill rests on. The chute H is open at both ends, so that it may beeasily washed out and all the pulp therein secured after a givenquantity of ore has been passed through the mill.

There are two side discharges for the mill besides the bottom dischargeat E. These consist of the two lateral openings K K covered by thescreens L L and discharging into the chutes M M which are bolted to thesides of-the box A. The side discharges, it will be understood, carryaway the water and ground ore that splash up upon the rocker 0 beingswung over the shoes B B The lower edges of the openings K K and upperedges of the shoes B B are suitably beveled, as shown in Fig. 1, to letthe splashing water and ore find their way readily into the side chutesM M The chutes M M drop their contents into the chute J-the same aschute II. (See Fig. 4.) Several means may be employed to work the rockerC-that is to say, to swing it back and forth on the ore dropped betweenit and the shoes B B--though for the prospectors and adsayers mill it isthought nothing simfiler orbetter could. be used than the plain andlever or rockerrod C hereinbei'ore mentioned, which is inserted in asocket formed in the top of the rocker, about the center thereof. Thisis all that is necessary to run the mill; but to render its action morepositive and regular I provide in addition two outside rods N N whichare yieldingly or flexibly connected to the rocker-rod O by a flatspring or else a crossbar C and pivotally connected to the ends of thebox A by means of bolts or collar-studs P P passed through eyes in thelower ends of said rods. (See Figs. 1 and 2.) These rods are attached tothe box a little below or above, but preferabl y below, the center ofthe rocker therein and have spiral springs Q Q coiled around their upperends and confined between handwheels R R thereon and the ends of the barC below the same. The upper ends of the rods N N pass and slide throughholes in the ends of the bar C, which is fastened to the rocker-rod C.it will be seen that the springs assist in grinding by hearing down onthe rockep, and at the same time the rocker is able to adjust itself onthe ore that is being ground. The hand-wheels allow the springs to becompressed or relaxed at the will of the operator to suit the grade ofore operated on.

When the rocker is swung over to one side a or the other by reason ofits fulcruming on the shoe, its point is lifted oif said shoe and thesprings compressed by reason of the change of the fulcrum of rods N Nwhich is oi! the center of oscillation of the rocker, and the springsacting to expand to their normal force the point of the rocker onto theother shoe. The pulp therefore runs down easily to the bottom discharge.

In the power-driven mill, Figs. 4 and 5, I make use of two rocker-rods CC to swing the rocker, the same being assisted also by end rods N N,with a crossbar C springs Q Q and hand-wheels R R as in the handmill. Toa central rounded portion of the bar 0 is attached one end of a pitmanS. (See Fig. 6 in addition to Figs. 4 and 5.) The other end of thepitman S is connected with a crankgear '1, which is turned by a pinionU, secured to a shaft V, journaled in suitable bearings on the frame X,and driven by a pulley Y and belt Z.

Fig. 3 shows the form of rocker and shoes employed for breaking the orethat is in large pieces previously to passing it through the millrepresented in the other figures. The rocker C and shoes B B in thisview are respectively made with large corrugations 0 and B and are welladapted to receive and crush the coarser or heavier ore between them,These corrugations may be provided only on one side of the rocker and ononly one of the shoes, if desired. The shoes B B and rocker Ci areplaced in a machine similar to the one hereinahove described andoperated substantially in the same way, and in practice I couple the twomachines, so that the same. form one continuous mill.

Having now described my invention, what i claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States, is-

1. A quartz-mill comprising shoes separated to provide adischarge-opening and having inplates closely set passing through thedischarge, and a rocker placed between the shoes above said plates, andhavinginclined undulating surfaces complementary to the shoesurfaces,substantially as described.

2. In aquartz-mill,the combination of a box, shoes therein havingoppositely disposed crushing-faces and separated at their lower ends,means for adjusting said shoes toward rods and the rocker-rod,substantially as set forth.

7. A quartz-mill comprising a box, wavysurfaced inclined shoes therein,a correspondshaped rocker placed between said shoes, a rocker-rodsecured to said rock er, a cross-bar fastened to said rocker-rod, otherrods pivotally connected with the ends of said box beyond or 01f thecenter of the rocker and passing freely through holes in the ends ofsaid bar, springs bearing hand-wheels to regulate the springs,substantially as set forth.

8. A quartzmill comprising shoes separated to provide adischarge-opening and. having inclined surfaces, rough-surfaced orindented plates closely set on edge between said shoes and acting toscreen the material passing through the discharge, and a rocker alsoplaced between the shoes above the said plates, substantially asdescribed.

9. A quartzmill comprising shoes separated to provide adischarge-opening, roughsnrfaced plates set on edge close togetherbetween said shoes and acting to screen the material passing through thedischarge, and a rocker also placed between the shoes above said plates,substantially as described.

ing in its bottom beneath the space between said shoes, and a pluralityof resting upon the bottom of said box over the of said shoes closetogether shoes and adapted to fulcrum at its upper part on said shoes,means acting positively to move the lower end of the rocker from oneshoe to the other, when the end of the rocker is lifted by reason of itsupper part fulcruming on one of the shoes, substantially as described.

of the shoes substantially conforming to the rocker-surfaces,substantially as described.

11. A rated to provide a discharge-opening, rougnrocker, a rod fulcrumedto said rocker off the center of oscillation of the same, and a yieldingconnection between the rocking means and said rod, substantially asdescribed.

5. A quartz-mill comprising inclined shoes, a rocker between the same, arocker-rod secured to said rocker, another rod fulcrumed at a suitableplace 01f the rockers center of 1 plates,

yielding connection between the rockerrod and the said other rod,substantially as f 6. A quartz-mill comprising inclined shoes,

above said and means, as set-screws, for adjust shoes against theplates, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ARCHIBALD FORD. [1,. s]

7 suitable places opposite the ends of the Witnesses: rocker, oil thecenter of oscillation thereof GEO. A. YOUNG, and a spring connectionbetween said other i A. H. STE. MARIE.

